FAMOUS FOOTWORK See Joey Lawrence, Lisa Rinna, Drew Lachey and others strut their stuff WANT TO GO?
Fans of the 'Dancing with the Stars' reality TV show can get their fix next week, when a live tour hits Washington and Richmond
Date published: 1/25/2007
By MICHAEL ZITZ
You're a "Dancing With the Stars" addict going through withdrawal. You have to wait two months before the guilty pleasure's return to ABC-TV.
What to do?
Filling the gap left in the lives of millions of fans of the ballroom dancing/B-celebrity/reality TV smash, in which each star teams up with a professional dancer, is "Dancing With the Stars--The Tour."
The live stage show, starring cast members from seasons one, two and three, makes stops Sunday night at Washington's Verizon Center and Tuesday night at the Richmond Coliseum.
The two-hour program, produced by BBC Worldwide, includes an oversized re-creation of the TV show's stage. Fans are seated at intimate nightclub-style tables close to the action, and the dancers perform to a live orchestra.
Carrie Ann Inaba, a judge on the TV show, is the tour's creative director.
In addition to dancing featuring the celebrities, there are dance sets performed by the professionals.
A pair of gigantic video screens feature rehearsal footage and exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews and outtakes not shown during network broadcasts.
| THE GANG'S ALL HERE
"Dancing With the Stars--The Tour" lineup:
l Season one's Joey McIntyre partners with season three's Kym Johnson.
l Season two winners Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke
l Season two's Lisa Rinna and Louis Van Amstel
l Season three's Joey Lawrence and Edyta Sliwinska
l Season three's Harry Hamlin pairs with Karina Smirnoff. (Both were on season three but didn't compete together.)
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| FOOTWORK FUN:
l The TV show's ballroom dancing competition includes the fox trot, the quickstep, the tango and the waltz. Latin dancing competition includes cha-cha, mambo, paso doble, jive, rumba and samba.
l The celebrity-professional ballroom dancer pairs are scored by a panel of judges. TV viewers also get the chance to vote via Internet and telephone. Each week, the couple with the lowest score is eliminated.
l Based on the original BBC reality TV series "Strictly Come Dancing," "Dancing With the Stars" has become a worldwide phenomenon.
The dance-reality-show craze spread first to Australia. Now each of these countries has its own version: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Israel, India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Ukraine, USA, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain and Norway.
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| MEN CAN MOVE, TOO!
When former Dallas Cowboys superstar Emmit Smith won season three of "Dancing With the Stars," it emboldened men to join dance classes--a hobby previously regarded by many as effeminate.
Even though Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire were not seen as being femme in the '50s and '60s, and John Travolta had men disco dancing to "Stayin' Alive" in the '70s, a stigma persisted.
Rhee Gold of "Goldrush" magazine told the AP that Smith broke down some walls with even the most macho men during the last season of "Dancing With the Stars."
"When you see football players on dancing shows, whether they win or not, that's going to change a masculine guy's mind," Gold told the wire service.
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| WHAT'S ON 'TAP' FOR TV:
l According to the entertainment Web site TMZ.com, country music one-hit wonder Billy Ray Cyrus will be part of the cast when "Dancing With the Stars" returns to ABC-TV on March 19. Cyrus is best known to viewers over 30 as the man who sang "Achy Breaky Heart." Younger viewers will recognize him as both the real-life and TV father of Disney Channel "Hannah Montana" star Miley Cyrus.
l Cyrus reportedly will join Muhammad Ali's daughter Laila, former "Beverly Hills 90210" star Ian Ziering and former *NSYNC member Joey Fatone. ABC hasn't confirmed the report.
l Reports say Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and Ozzie Osbourne's wife, Sharon, and daughter, Kelly, had planned to join the show's cast in March, but later backed out.
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WHAT: 'Dancing With the Stars-- The Tour'
WHEN AND WHERE: Sunday at 7:30 p.m at the Verizon Center, 601 F St., N.W., Washington; and Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Richmond Coliseum, 601 E. Leigh St.
COST: $48.50-$58.50 in D.C., and $47.50-$57.50 in Richmond
TICKETS: Available through all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com, via Phonecharge at 800/551-SEAT, or by calling the Richmond Coliseum at 804/262-8100
INFO: D.C.--202/628-3200, 202/661-5000, verizoncenter.com; Richmond--804/780-4970, richmondcoliseum.net; dancingwiththestars.aeglive.com
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Date published: 1/25/2007
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